Steam Library A-Z Challenge

The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. I've no idea where this game came from. It's on my Steam library, and it looks like a friend or two has played it, but I do not remember buying it. Presumably it was in a Humble Bundle or similar I bought at some point in the past. So, I didn't know what kind of game The Bridge would be. My guess was an endless runner. Turns out it's another puzzler - strikingly similar to Braid. It's not really a clone, but definitely of the same ilk - soothing music, a distinct yet simple art style, and a kind of off-looking protagonist. You play as Sketchy McMathsman, a drawing who lives in a world of optical illusions, angry balls, and vortexes of doom. OK, I made the protag's name up as the game doesn't really give you much in the way of story - in fact it gives you even less than Braid. I managed to beat the fir...

The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. Braid is one of those games that I remember causing a stir amongst those who, like me, love thoughtful indie games. Games like The Beginner's Guide & Undertale have, for me at least, gone a long way towards proving that games can be art. Pro-tip though - don't look up these types of games' fandoms... The game itself is a puzzle-platformer, where the main gimmick is rewinding time to change your surroundings. The puzzles are devious, and as far as I can see you have to solve all of them to get to the end. Finishing a level is normally as easy as holding right, but you can (and must) replay each level to try and grab the puzzle pieces scattered throughout, like you're playing some kind of melodious Groundhog Day. Controls-wise, the game doesn't feel great to me - the jumps just aren't high enough to fee...

The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. I was quite excited to play Before the Echo. I knew it was a rhythm RPG, and really that pushes a lot of buttons for me. The game begins as the protag (Ky) wakes up in a mysterious tower. He's told by a voice over an intercom (a lady called Naia) that he has to ascend all seven floors if he wants to escape. That's as much plot as I got in the hour I played. The game itself is your standard rhythm game ala Dance Dance Revolution, with arrows that scroll down and make your vision wonky. The main difference is that the play is set across three boards.The Defensive board lets you block incoming attacks by matching arrows, the Mana board lets you gain mana by matching arrows, and the Spell board lets you cast a spell of your choice at the enemy you're fighting (by matching arrows). Before the Echo also has an RPG system...

The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. The Banner Saga came out in 2014, and I remember being so hyped for it. I love the aesthetic, and I love tactics games so this one seemed right up my alley. The Banner Saga is set in a Viking-inspired world where, weeks before the beginning of the game, the sun stopped moving in the sky. I love this - normally darkness is the herald of evil but this is just way more ominous to me. You play as a group of Varl (giants with horns) travelling around the human lands getting tithes for the Varl King. Later in the game you also play as humans fleeing the creatures known as the Dredge, and the story just gets more exciting (and depressing) from there. Such a beautiful caravan...shame if something were to happen to it (it will :( ) The game is split into two main phases - travelling and combat. The combat is fairly easy to learn but ...

The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. Arsenal of Democracy is another one of those dry looking games we got in a Paradox mega-bundle, bought many years ago. The background art on Steam shows a flow chart, which I'm guessing is some kind of skill tree. Looking at Google, I'm guessing the game is a Risk clone. Judging by reviews, it's a well received wargame, with enough complexity and depth to keep you entertained for hours. All of these are guesses, however, as I could not get this damned game to load. Arsenal of Democracy is a hilarious name if you think about it though I tried troubleshooting this thing for nearly half an hour, using all of the power Google could muster. I failed. Sorry, everyone! Arsenal of Democracy: In my 'Doesn't Work' folder.

The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. I picked up Armello from a recent Humble Bundle, and I'll admit I bought it because it was described as a 'board / card / dice rolling game' which are words that are always exciting to me. The plot of the game is simple, and told in some very pretty animated cutscenes. The King of Armello (a lion) has become infected with Rot, which is causing him to both act all evilly and slowly die. Your job is to deal with this situation, and you can do so in a few different ways - these are the win conditions of the game. First of all the tutorials are really cute, and hand-hold you through the basic mechanics of the game. You move your character around a hex grid, where you can fight rivals and monsters, explore dungeons, and complete quests. I'll admit these mostly sound more interesting than they are - the dungeoneering i...

The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is the third AoW game. Strangely it doesn't have any number attached to it, so I had to look up where it came in the series chronologically. Steam has listed it after AoW3, and I'm not sure why AoW3 wasn't called AoW4, but there we go. The intro of the game tells me that the wizard wars of the first two games have sucked the life force out of the world, and because of this wizardry is outlawed. Because you play as a mage in this game you have to take the side of the arcane, which is a bit sad. We (or at least, sensible, forward-thinking people) take steps to minimize the damage we do to our environment, so it makes sense that in a setting where magic is killing the world it should be at least limited. I suspect that later on in the game it'll be revealed that wizardry is fine and it...